Us in a Nutshell
by SlythCommand
Summary: Short peeks into Kiba and Shino's relationship from their perspectives.


Shino slept in three ways. On missions or when visiting potentially dangerous places, he slept on his back, kunai in hand, in a state of heightened awareness. He hovered on the edge of sleep, just relaxed enough to reboot and always so focused that he could spring to battle at the slightest noise or shift in his surroundings. In places that were less dangerous, where he could let his guard down, he slept on his side, more asleep than aware. Nevertheless, he clutched a kunai, and his kikaichu acted as an alarm system, waking him at the slightest hitch in chakra near him.

At home, in Konoha, he simply slept. There was still that tiny awareness that was bred into every Shinobi, that life saving instinct, but it didn't rule his nights. Instead, when he was in his home, he relaxed and let himself fall into utter oblivion-because it was easy to sleep when you had a warm body clinging to yours, a nose nuzzled in the back of your neck. It was easy to sleep next to someone that you loved, someone who loved you.

* * *

Kiba considered himself a pretty free spirit. He did what he wanted when he was off duty (because free spirit or not, he was a Shinobi, and Konoha always came first) and he liked it that way. He'd been drinking since he'd been a Chuunin, swearing like a sailor since before he was a Genin, and the only reason he wasn't father to a thousand bastard children was that males couldn't reproduce together (Thank all the Gods). He knew what he wanted, and he wasn't afraid to say it. And once he had it, he laid claim to it pretty well. What else was he supposed to do, given his rather canine nature? He was happy with who he was. He was a loud, energetic, perverted, possessive asshole, and he was proud of it. It was accepted as a fact in most ninja villages that all Jounin had quirks, and if the worst of Kiba's were getting drunk and propositioning his boyfriend loudly in public...well, it could be worse.

* * *

Shino was a person who liked a set schedule. He liked order and organization. He liked rules and regulations. He liked having things clear and concise.

He often wondered why in the world he had fallen in love with Kiba. The only man in Konoha worse with schedules was Hatake Kakashi, and that was saying something. Kiba bent the rules as far as they would go without breaking them, was messy and a bit of a slob, and was so confusing sometimes it made Shino's brain hurt. But then again...

He was never late to anything truly important, and he knew when it was and wasn't okay to fool with the rules. He cleaned up the house and made things neat with no warning, just to surprise Shino, keep him on his toes. And sometimes, Kiba could be so startlingly clear and honest that it shocked Shino into silence (well, more silence than was usual).

He often wondered how he had ever lived before Kiba.

* * *

Kiba fancied himself easy to please. A glass or two of sake, good warm food in his belly, some time spent laughing with his friends, and then home to do things to Shino that should probably be illegal. And afterwards, and this he wholly contributed to his canine nature (because he certainly wasn't the mushy type, oh, no), he liked to just...cuddle. He liked to wrap his arms around Shino, pull him close, and just hold him. He'd kiss him a few times, but mostly it was just gentle nuzzles. Shino put up with it because honestly, he didn't mind being treated like a squishy pillow when it felt that good.

* * *

Missions at first had been hell. It had been hard on Shino, just getting Kiba and then having to leave. He was a confident person when it came to his Shinobi skills, but was he confident in his masculine wiles? Hell no. Living with the Kikaichu had its advantages, yes, but it didn't exactly create a line of people ready to fall at his feet for a chance to be with him. Shino had honestly never expected to find anyone, despite what his mother said.

He'd been shocked to realize that Kiba, attractive, popular, lively Kiba (who could pretty much bang any girl their age if he really tried, and even some women who were older), was interested in _him_. He had tried to build a confidence in himself, then-and Kiba's words and kisses were the foundations, bricks, and mortar-but there was always a niggling little voice in the back of his head. The voice liked to tell him that Kiba wouldn't stay long; he'd find someone more attractive and more suited to his personality. Someone less...creepy and weird.

Kiba ruthlessly murdered the little voice one day, and Shino didn't really miss it. He'd been standing outside the teahouse, listening to two familiar male voices wafting out with the scent of steeped leaves, not really eavesdropping so much as being unable to walk away.

"-doesn't creep you out? I mean, Shino's a...nice guy, I guess, but it's kind of like dating a living ant farm."

"Yeah, but he's _my_ living ant farm. He wouldn't be who is he if he didn't have the Kikaichu. Really, I don't know how I got so lucky; I mean, shit, _I_ smell like dog all the time."

These days, missions weren't as hard. Shino knew Kiba was at home, sniffing the pillows and missing him tremendously, and Shino always had possessive little love bites to remind himself.

* * *

Kiba liked smells. He'd be the first to admit it. When you had supersensory smell, you tended to notice the way things...smelled, after all, and smells really were useful. He could tell when someone was scared, happy, tired, aroused, injured, etc. He could tell when he was about to be attacked, and only the most skilled Genjutsus worked against him (and those still rarely-what did people expect, when he had Kurenai for a sensei?) because people always seemed to forget the importance of scent.

Smells could also be troublesome. One infamously horrible scent from the first Chuunin exams had really ruined things. Enemies who knew about the Inuzukas could take him down using scent, or use it to distract or mislead him. And it was really hard to hide things from your mother when she could smell them on you.

She'd bitched at first about the alcohol. His brief stint with smoking hadn't been any easier to hide, either. So, when he'd finally just grabbed Shino and nailed him to a wall, so to speak, he decided it was best to just...be honest about it. So he had marched up to the family home, still in his rumpled clothes that smelled like sex, and found his mother. She looked at him, his arms crossed defiantly, huge grin on his face. She raised an eyebrow.

"I take it the only way I'll ever be a grandmother is if Hana pops out some babies?" His grin was all the answer she needed.


End file.
